Search

Background: The impact of social isolation on social cognition is not entirely clear., Objective: The aim of the study is to investigate the association between social isolation and social cognition., Methods: In a population-based sample of 83 individuals aged 50+ years without dementia, we assessed the relationship between social isolation (measured by the Lubben Social Network Scale - LSNS-6) and performance on emotional recognition (measured by the Emotion Recognition Task (ERT)) and on Theory of Mind (ToM) abilities (measured by the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET)), two core aspects of social cognition., Results: No significant association was found between social isolation and ToM abilities for both the unadjusted and adjusted models. Similarly, no significant association was observed between social isolation and emotion recognition., Conclusions: Further research is needed to understand the complex correlation between social relationships and cognitive health, particularly in different cognitive domains, adopting a life course perspective., Competing Interests: Declaration of conflicting interestsThe authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Interdigital electrodes were prepared using nanoimprint lithography and piezoelectric inkjet printing. These processes are simpler and more cost-effective than the industrially used electron beam lithography because of their purely mechanical process step. For the investigation of material dependence, platinum as well as carbon electrodes were fabricated. Afterwards electrodes with various line widths and spacings were tested for the application as a chemiresistive sensor for ferrocenyl-methanol and the influence of the gap-width and conductor cross-section on the sensitivity was investigated. The general suitability of the systems for the production of such structures could be confirmed. Structures with a limit of detection (LOD) down to 1.2 μM and 35.9 μM could be produced for carbon and platinum, respectively, as well as a response time of 3.6 s was achieved., (© 2024 The Authors. ChemistryOpen published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

The field of bioinspired iontronics, bridging electronic devices and ionic systems, has multiple biological applications. Carbon-based ultracapacitive devices hold promise for controlling bioactive ions via electric double layers due to their high-surface-area and biocompatible porous carbon electrodes. However, the interplay between complex bioactive ions and porous carbons remains unclear due to the variety of structures of bioactive ions present in biological systems. Herein, we investigate the adsorption behavior of a series of bioactive ammonium-based cations with varying alkyl chain lengths in nanoporous carbons. We find that strong physisorption results from the synergistic hydrophobic interaction and electrostatic attraction between porous carbons (with a negative zeta potential) and bioactive cations. Bioactive cations with varying alkyl chain lengths can be irreversibly physically adsorbed and confined within nanoporous carbons resulting in anion enrichment and depletion during electric polarization. This situation, in turn, results in a characteristic memristive behavior in all-carbon capacitive ionic memristor devices. Our findings highlight the relationship between the resistance state of the memristor and ion adsorption mechanisms in all-carbon capacitive devices, which hold potential for future transmitter delivery, biointerfacing, and neuromorphic devices., (© 2024 The Authors. Angewandte Chemie International Edition published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Objectives: To assess the safety and immunogenicity of a fourth vaccination (second booster) in individuals aged ≥75 years., Methods: Participants were randomized to BNT162b2 (Comirnaty, 30 µg) or messenger RNA (mRNA)-1273 (Spikevax, 100 µg). The primary end point was the rate of two-fold antibody titer increase 14 days after vaccination, targeting the receptor binding domain (RBD) region of wild-type SARS-CoV-2. The secondary end points included changes in neutralizing activity against wild-type and 25 variants. Safety was assessed by monitoring solicited adverse events (AEs) for 7 days., Results: A total of 269 participants (mean age 81 years, mRNA-1273 n = 135/BNT162b2 n = 134) were included. Two-fold anti-RBD immunoglobulin (Ig) G titer increase was achieved by 101 of 129 (78%) and 116 of 133 (87%) subjects in the BNT162b2 and the mRNA-1273 group, respectively (P = 0.054). A second booster of mRNA-1273 provided higher anti-RBD IgG geometric mean titer: 21.326 IU/mL (95% confidence interval: 18.235-24.940) vs BNT162b2: 15.181 IU/mL (95% confidence interval: 13.172-17.497). A higher neutralizing activity was noted for the mRNA-1273 group. The most frequent AE was pain at the injection site (51% in mRNA-1273 and 48% in BNT162b2). Participants in the mRNA-1273 group had less vaccine-related AEs (30% vs 39%)., Conclusions: A second booster of either BNT162b2 or mRNA-1273 provided substantial IgG increase. Full-dose mRNA-1273 provided higher IgG levels and neutralizing capacity against SARS-CoV-2, with similar safety profile for subjects of advanced age., Competing Interests: Declarations of competing interest JS has received research grants by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), Noscendo and Basilea Pharmaceuticals; has received speaker honoraria by AbbVie, Hikma, Pfizer and Gilead; has been a consultant to Gilead, Produkt&Markt GmbH, Alvea Vax and Micron Research and has received travel grants by German Society for Infectious Diseases (DGI) and Meta-Alexander Foundation, all outside the submitted work. MA has received research grants from Pfizer and Gilead. Contributed to educational activities organized/supported by Pfizer, Roche, Gilead, GSK, Moderna and Sanofi. All honoraria from these activities are paid to the Institution. JSG has received speaker honoraria from Gilead and Pfizer, outside of the submitted work. MZ has received honoraria for lecturing courses by Pfizer Malaysia; is now an employee with AiCuris AG. RS has received lecture honoraria from Pfizer and Hikma, outside of the submitted work. JFI has received research grants by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Ministry of Science. Spain has received grants or research contracts from Laboratorios Faes, Normon, Pfizer, Italfarmaco, GSK, Prestige; has been a consultant or has received speaker honoraria from Faes, Normon, Cinfa, Mundipharma, Abbott, Novartis, and collaborations from AbbVie. PWGM has received honoraria and/or grant funding from Gilead, Janssen, MSD, ViiV Healthcare, GSK, and AstraZeneca, outside of the submitted work. SMK has received grants from Pfizer, MSD, Huvepharma, AiCuris, Astra Zeneca, Mylan, Janssen pharma. PK reports grants or contracts from German Federal Ministry of Research and Education (BMBF) B-FAST (Bundesweites Forschungsnetz Angewandte Surveillance und Testung) and NAPKON (Nationales Pandemie Kohorten Netz, German National Pandemic Cohort Network) of the Network University Medicine and the State of North Rhine-Westphalia; Consulting fees Ambu GmbH, Gilead Sciences, Mundipharma Resarch Limited, Noxxon N.V. and Pfizer Pharma; Honoraria for lectures from Akademie für Infektionsmedizin e.V., Ambu GmbH, Astellas Pharma, BioRad Laboratories Inc., Datamed GmbH, European Confederation of Medical Mycology, Gilead Sciences, GPR Academy Ruesselsheim, HELIOS Kliniken GmbH, Lahn-Dill-Kliniken GmbH, medupdate GmbH, MedMedia GmbH, MSD Sharp & Dohme GmbH, Pfizer Pharma GmbH, Scilink Comunicación Científica SC, streamedup! GmbH and University Hospital and LMU Munich; Participation on an Advisory Board from Ambu GmbH, Gilead Sciences, Mundipharma Resarch Limited and Pfizer Pharma; A pending patent currently reviewed at the German Patent and Trade Mark Office (DE 10 2021 113 007.7); Other non-financial interests from Elsevier, Wiley and Taylor & Francis online outside the submitted work. OAC reports grants or contracts from Amplyx, Basilea, BMBF, Cidara, DZIF, EU-DG RTD (101037867), F2G, Gilead, Matinas, MedPace, MSD, Mundipharma, Octapharma, Pfizer, Scynexis; Consulting fees from AbbVie, Amplyx, Biocon, Biosys, Cidara, Da Volterra, Gilead, IQVIA, Janssen, Matinas, MedPace, Menarini, Molecular Partners, MSG-ERC, Noxxon, Octapharma, Pfizer, PSI, Scynexis, Seres; Honoraria for lectures from Abbott, AbbVie, Al-Jazeera Pharmaceuticals, Astellas, Gilead, Grupo Biotoscana/United Medical/Knight, Hikma, MedScape, MedUpdate, Merck/MSD, Mylan, Noscendo, Pfizer, Shionogi; payment for expert testimony from Cidara; participation on a Data Safety Monitoring Board or Advisory Board from Actelion, Allecra, Cidara, Entasis, IQVIA, Janssen, MedPace, Paratek, PSI, Pulmocide, Shionogi, and The Prime Meridian Group. Kristin G-I Mohn has received honoraria for lectures from Takeda, IQVIA and BioNTech, has received a Research Grant from Norwegian Regional Health authorities, West, grant nr F12626 and is a Member of an advisory board on committee for National vaccination programs, Norwegian Public Health Institute. The remaining authors have no competing interest to declare., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

A liquid precursor for 3D printing ultramicroporous carbons (pore width <0.7 nm) to create a novel in-plane capacitive-analog of semiconductor-based diodes (CAPodes) is presented. This proof-of-concept integrates functional EDLCs into microstructured iontronic devices. The working principle is based on selective ion-sieving, controlling the size of the electrolyte ions, and the nanoporous sieving carbon's pore size. By blocking bulky electrolyte ions from entering the sub-nanometer pores, a unidirectional charging characteristic with controllable ion flux is achieved, leading to diodic U-I characteristics with a high rectification ratio. The liquid precursor approach enables successful printing of miniaturized in-plane CAPodes. A combination of inkjet and extrusion printing techniques with suitable inks is explored to fabricate electrode materials with engineered porosity. Deliberate fine-tuning of the ultramicroporous carbon's porosity and surface area is achieved using a customized carbon precursor and CO 2 etching techniques. Electrochemical evaluation of the printed CAPodes demonstrates successful miniaturization compared with macroscopic film assembly. 3D manufacturing and miniaturization allow for the integration of CAPodes into logic gate circuits (OR, AND). For the first time, these switchable devices are used as variable capacitors in a high-pass filter application, adjusting the cut-off frequency of applied alternating voltage analogous to an I-MOS varactor., (© 2024 The Authors. Advanced Materials published by Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Cryptococcosis is the most prevalent fungal infection of the central nervous system worldwide. We performed a retrospective multicenter cohort study to gain insights into the epidemiology of cryptococcosis in Germany. We describe the use of diagnostic tests, clinical management and patient outcome. We included 64 patients with underlying HIV infection (55%) or other predispositions. Molecular typing by MLST documented 20 individual sequence types among 42 typed isolates. A fatal outcome was documented in 14% of patients in the first two months after diagnosis., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier GmbH.. All rights reserved.)

Background: People with dementia commonly have impaired social functioning and may not recognize this. This lack of awareness may result in worse outcomes for the person and their family carers., Objective: We aimed to characterize awareness of social functioning in dementia and describe its association with dementia severity., Methods: Multi-center cross-sectional study of people aged >65 years with dementia and family informants recruited from Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom. We used the Social Functioning in Dementia (SF-DEM) scale, assessing "spending time with other people" (domain 1), "communicating with other people" (domain 2), and "sensitivity to other people" (domain 3), and calculated lack of awareness into social functioning as the discrepancy between patient and informant ratings., Results: 108 participants with dementia (50.9% women), mean age = 78.9 years, and mean MMSE score = 22.7. Patient and informant domain 1 ratings did not differ, but patient-rating was higher than carers for domain 2 (11.2 versus 10.1; p = 0.003) and domain 3 (9.7 versus 8.1; p < 0.001). Sixty people with dementia overestimated their overall social functioning, 30 underestimated, and 18 gave ratings congruent with their informant. Performance on the MMSE and its sub-domains was not associated with SF-DEM discrepancy score., Conclusions: We found that awareness of social functioning in dementia was a multidimensional concept, which varies according to subdomains of social functioning. Clinicians should help family members understand and adapt by explaining their relative with dementia's lack of awareness about aspects of their social functioning.

The surfaces of phosphoric acid activated carbon, referred to as CG, and steam activated one, referred to as SX, were modified through an introduction of S- and N- groups originated from thiourea. The prepared samples were used for formaldehyde removal at room temperature. Heating at 450, 600 and 950 °C altered both surface chemistry and porosity. The extents of these modifications depended on the type of carbon. Using thiourea as the modifier resulted in an incorporation of significant amounts of nitrogen and sulfur to the carbon matrices. Their speciation depended on the heat treatment conditions. The activity of samples heated at 450 °C was governed by amine groups of thiourea retained on the surface. A further heat treatment converted gradually amine nitrogen into pyridines/pyrroles and quaternary nitrogen, shifting the adsorption mechanism to rather specific interactions than a direct chemical reactivity. Carbons with few times less nitrogen than in their amine-modified counterparts, but in quaternary form and with the small amount of sulfur in thiophenic configurations, regardless the origin, worked as very efficient adsorbents of HCHO. Due to the modification of the carbon matrix electronic structure, resulting in a positive charge on carbon atoms in the vicinity of the heteroatoms incorporated to carbon rings, the density of specific adsorption centers on the surface in larger pores was significantly higher than that in ultramicropores. This markedly contributed to efficient utilization of pores/surface, where heteroatom can exist and where otherwise the dispersive adsorptions forces would be weak, for HCHO removal at ambient conditions., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Background: Activities of daily living (ADL) functioning are important in the diagnosis of neurocognitive disorders (NCD), yet no standardized and validated instrument exist based on international classification systems., Objective: We aimed to psychometrically evaluate the differentiated assessment of ADL and instrumental ADL (IADL) impairments due to NCD according to DSM-5 criteria (Instrument für die Erfassung von Alltagsbeeinträchtigungen bei Neurokognitiven Störungen; A-NKS)., Methods: We conducted a pilot study involving 92 participant-informant dyads of participants with mild or major NCDs, cognitively healthy individuals, and an informant, to test acceptability, internal consistency, and convergent validity with similar measures., Results: Both A-NKS versions demonstrated excellent internal consistency (α= 0.95 -0.99) and correlate with other instrumental ADL instruments (participant [informant]: Barthel Index: rs = -0.26, p≤0.05 [rs = -0.30, p≤0.01]; Amsterdam IADL: rs = 0.59, p≤0.01 [rs = 0.48, p≤0.01]; SIDAM ADL: rs = 0.46, p≤0.001 [rs = 0.47, p≤0.001]). Additionally, there are correlations with the scale autonomy of the WHOQOL-OLD (rs = -0.50, p≤0.001 [rs = -0.37, p≤0.001]) and physical, as well as cognitive activities (rs = -0.39, p≤0.001 [rs = -0.50, p≤0.001]). They were well-accepted by participants and informants., Conclusions: The A-NKS is an instrument with acceptable psychometric properties to assess ADL due to neurodegenerative decline in healthy individuals, and those with mild or major NCD. Further research is needed to confirm reliability and validity and investigate the factor structure.